Tuesday, January 1, 2008

High praise for Nick Clegg in the Telegraph and Guardian

Nick Clegg has received a lot of coverage for his pledge to scrap ID cards. He's in the Mail and the Guardian bases a leader article on his call. Andrew O'Hagan in The Telegraph particularly praises him:

The ID cards issue should be raising the most stimulating arguments about who we are and how we are - but no, it is not: we nose the grass like sheep and prepare to be herded once again.

It seems the only person speaking up with a broad sense of what this all means is Nick Clegg, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, who has devoted much of his new year message to underlining the sheer horribleness of the scheme.

He has said he will go to jail rather than bow to this "expensive, invasive and unnecessary" affront to "our natural liberal tendencies".

I have to say I cheered when I heard this, not only because I agree, but because it is entirely salutary, in these sheepish times, to see a British politician express his personal feelings so strongly.